'The Ballad of Bejus Fine' is progressing well, if a little slower than I usually write.

I'm taking my time. Trying to add interesting content, atmosphere, and emotion into the story. The characters are much more complex than my usual fast paced SciFi stories. 

I find myself writing for a while, then stepping back and reading, writing, repeat. It is helping me 'understand' my characters more. I'm letting my imagination brew and percolate the story and the people living the story.

Lots more research on the 'Dust Bowl' era of the Panhandle of Texas. I was born and grew up in Levelland, Texas, about 30 miles west of Lubbock. Smack in the middle of that period where the lush prairies were devastated in a matter of a few years due to drought and poor soil conservation.

Families and animals starved. Whole towns were deserted. People had a truly 'hard scrabble' existence. Or they moved away to escape the dismals times. By some counts 2.5 million people moved away from the Plains states by 1940! It was the biggest mass exodus from an area in American history.

The dust storms would last for days, burying crops and homes and killing livestock. The skies were black with dust and debris. The Sun was blocked for days.

I can remember, in the early '60s', looking across the cotton field behind our house and seeing a brownish-black cloud on the horizon. And that was decades AFTER the Dust Bowl 'ended'! I remember eating baloney, mustard and onion sandwiches on white bread and getting a mouthful of grit from the dust that was EVERYWHERE after a storm. ;-)

I hope all my writer friends are busy working on their stories and enjoying life.

There is only now.

'The Ballad of Bejus Fine' is in progress

 After multiple medical interruptions, and just plain life issues that we all have to deal with, I'm back to my next WIP.

'The Ballad of Bejus Fine'.

It's not a SciFi or ghost story or paranormal romance. It's a plain ole literary fiction, based in the Panhandle of Texas where I was born and grew up.

I chose to write this one because I need to stretch a little and improve my 'world building' beyond space ships and evil, ugly, alien invaders. ;-) I need to write a story that has real human drama. I need to to show myself that I can. And, of course, to show you that I can. 

I love my books, all of them. The 'buddy' SciFi spoof series , 'Arlo and Jake', has been an absolute gas to write. My readers have been awesome with their reviews and comments. I'll be writing more in that series as my Muse releases more cool story ideas. But I need to add some depth to my writing. Some human depth.

So. What do you do when you need to 'switch gears' for awhile?

Do you switch genres? Take a sabbatical? Pour two fingers of White Horse and ponder the Universe?

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Be cool, everyone.

 First, please check out my book tabs on the right. That's where I pimp my books! 

I've been writing and publishing since 2006. My first book was 'Genome', a biotech thriller with a paranormal backstory. That's right, I mixed genres and it WORKS! ;-)

Next, I'm back!! My 'medical event' was a stroke and then a 'carotid endarterectomy' to clean out some plaque that blocked the blood flow by 75%! The Spice must Flow! ('Dune' lovers out there?) I look like Frankenstein's Monster on the left side. Didn't really affect my handsome looks that much. I think it adds a bit of charm, actually. Nothing like a 7 inch scar to add a little pizzaz to your face! ;-)

For the not faint of heart, go google that procedure on YouTube. It's unbelievable what medicine can do these days! I'm not a faint-at-the-sight-of-blood kinda guy, so I find these things fascinating. We've come such a long way from the discovery in the 19th century that tagged germs as something that affects illnesses. We knew about germs themselves in the 17th century.

I did some research about the procedure and turns out that the first successful carotid endarterectomies were performed in the early '50s! I'm so lucky to have been born in '52.

A personal note to everyone out there to pay attention to your body! Talk to your doctor about symptoms of stroke, heart attack, vascular issues, etc! Your doctor can only help you IF you talk to them about changes in your day-to-day feelings.

And eat a Mediterranean-style 'diet' for crying out loud! It's plenty delicious and varied and it WILL help keep you healthy with a little exercise on your part. Burgers and steaks are great occasionally. I enjoy a platter of Red Robbin's Cajun Clucks and Fries once in a while, too.

Writing has been spotty, considering I was in and out of the ER and then the hospital for the surgery. I'm working on Episode 9 of my new Amazon 'Vella story, 'Auntie Renita's Martian Motel'. I need to move that story to conclusion in the coming months. PLEASE go check out my 2 stories on 'Vella, I need to see some feedback on that new platform. The first few Episodes are FREE!!!

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Auntie Renita's Martian Motel

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After I finish 'Auntie Renita's, I'm going to pickup on a couple of stories I put on the back burner a while back.

Keep writing, my Friends!!

OK. That was different...

I've been 'away' for a few weeks, so the blog has suffered a bit.

I had a medical event that has put a short pause to my writing. It was one of those scary things that most of us Old Farts of 70 years dread, but know is looming out there in the Universe.

Well, the prognosis is good. I'm going to see a specialist soon and see what he can do to clear up my aging body's ailments. I'm not the first to be in this position so he has lots of experience. 

Maybe someday we'll be able to look back and say 'I can't believe people had to suffer with this!' 

The way medicine is progressing these days, I have high hopes for this. I am constantly amazed by the health care advancements we make, seemingly on a daily basis. If you really stop and think about it, we live in incredible times.

In just the last 10 years, here are some advances I found:

- Human Genome discoveries that spot diseases with 'marker', early in life

- Vast improvements in Doc/Patient IT, allowing information storage online

- Anti-Smoking laws reduce smoking

- Heart disease deaths drop by 40 percent!!

- Stem Cell research is ramping up with high hopes to cure terrible diseases

- New cancer treatments

- Vaccine research that helped us mitigate and stop the COVID-19 pandemic!

There are many, many more. Spend a few minutes online and you'll be amazed. Every aspect of our health is being addressed by professionals around the world.

All this to say I'm so thankful for everyone who dedicates their lives and daily efforts to that noblest of pursuits, helping their fellow man.

THANK YOU!

 I just pub'd 'Scattered Visions Volume 1' on Amazon!

Five short stories that have been percolating on the back burner, some for years! Rather than trying to pub each one, I've bundled them as a collection.

You can read each story at your leisure or plow through them at one sitting. I like to savor short stories, reading one and enjoying the taste for a little while before grabbing another. But that's just me.

Here's the synopsis:

COMPANION

This tale explores some near future possibilities in the field of Artificial Intelligence, AI, and medical enhancements. How will we use these amazing concepts to benefit Mankind? We’ve only scratched the surface of the myriad opportunities so far.

I suggest a first step…

FINAL ANALYSIS

This is a fun, and I hope thought provoking, vision of one of the oldest questions known to Mankind, the search for other life and most importantly how we might find them.

Is this how we search…

THE WORKSHOP

Grandpa’s shack, in this tale of ‘contact’, is based on a real place from my childhood. My grandfather was a renaissance man who built and fixed radios, built his own prairie sod home, and rode a mule in North Texas as a circuit riding Baptist preacher.

Ever wonder why we haven’t been contacted…

TOURISTS

Remembering the Texas State Fair Merry-Go-Round brought this story to life in a single sitting.

Just for fun…

TRANSLATION

The Universe is a dangerous place. We’re only now beginning to realize that we don’t even know what we don’t know. Will Mankind exist long enough to learn how to live among the stars?

Maybe we’ll get help…

Grab a copy today and leave me any comments you have, and THANKS for the support!

Scattered Visions (click here <-)

Wrap up the Old and bring in the New!!

 The new year has started with a BANG and 2022 was a great year.

I launched a new book, 'Invasion of the Aquanoids' on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble 'Invasion of the Aquanoids '. The cover art was redone by a new friend on Twitter, Victor Pflug ( @modredcastleton), who develops great Point and Click games. Check out his work on Steam. Look for games from Wormwood Studios.

I made some awesome new writing contacts and started new books for this year.

I started on a new med, 'Entresto' for my low ejection heart issues. I also started using a sleep apnea CPAP machine. I'm feeling a 'bit' better these days. When I put the mask system on I look like something from a SciFi/Horror movie, but I do get better sleep and far fewer 'episodes' where I stop breathing. During my testing I had 600 episodes in 1 hour. Now I have 1-2 all night! I don't like wearing the mask, but I'm getting used to it.

I had cataracts removed from both eyes and corrective lenses inserted. The world is suddenly much brighter and more colorful! AND I only need reading glasses for things like paperback books, newspaper, etc.

Modern medical science is amazing!

Visited the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam as a side trip on our Las Vegas vacation. Vegas was fun for the first couple of days, but we should have only stayed for 2 or 3 days instead of 5. I doubt we'll be back. Best part of the Vegas stay was seeing the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage. Totally worth the terrible air flight to Vegas. Go see it before they tear down the Mirage next year!

I also started picking up the guitar again. I'm going to start up lessons again. Need to get these old fingers nimble enough to play. ;-)

I'm really looking forward to diving into new books and hopefully publishing stories in magazines this year. I've had tons of 'not for us at this time' responses, but I keep trying!

I hope you all had a decent 2022 and are looking forward to a great 2023.

Here's a little Navy humor to start your day.